Last updated on August 8th, 2022 at 04:13 pm

Have you guys watched Wu Assassins on Netflix yet?

I dig it. I dig it.

Iko Uwais, if you don’t know him yet, you will. He’s an Indonesian actor and mixed martial artist who, I’m calling it, is going to be the next big thing in mixed martial arts choreography.

He’s been in (obviously Wu Assassins) The Raid and The Raid 2, Mile 22, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Triple Threat, Stuber (which was hilarious by the way), and I’m sure soon to be a lot more.

Oh, and he’s jacked.

Did I forget to mention that?

Iko Uwais Stats:

Height: 5’5-5’6

Weight: 155 lbs.

Age: 36 years old

Finally, a height I can support.

Iko Uwais falls into the shortest category among male celebs on the site, and joins me there.

The average height falls in the range of 6’1-6’3 with celebs like Chris Pratt, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Adam Driver, Stephen Amell, Clive Standen and so many more.

Guys around 5’10-6’0 are dudes like Brad Pitt, Matt Damon and Jason Statham, but the ACTUAL shorter range is filled with guys like Mark Wahlberg, Zac Efron, Kit Harington, Tom Holland and more.

Even taller than them are guys like The Mountain, Joe Manganiello, Ben Affleck, Jason Momoa, Ray Fisher, Winston Duke, Alexander Skarsgard and a few others.

But, don’t worry either way.

We write these routines to be utilized by any shape and size.

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Iko Uwais Diet and Nutrition

In an interview with Kung Fu Kingdom we get a ton of information from Iko Uwais and his training.

Which includes this about his diet:

By the way, what kind of diet do you have?

Nothing special, I eat anything! Chicken fried rice, fruits and vegetables. I drink hot tea, every morning, every day.

But recently we have seen him tack on a ton of weight in the gym, so it’s likely he’s been upping his intake a bit.

And it also is important to point out that he says “Nothing special, I eat anything!” but then he proceeds to name things that we’d generally consider the healthy options.

Plus, once we get to Uwais’ workout regime you’ll see just how active he is and understand why it doesn’t cause a problem when he “eats anything”!

We see a lot of celebs opt for a sustainable approach like this.

That’s why our Academy Nutrition Classes (Monks, Minimalists, SuperHumans, Vikings, Spartans, Hunter Gatherers, Greek Gods, Samurais) revolve around helping you find the specific diet that is right FOR YOU.

Of course, there are a lot of reasons to HAVE the strict guidelines.

We’ve seen a lot of celebs opt for specific restrictions. 

For example: Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart incorporate 80/20 dieting with big weekly cheat meals, Hugh Jackman, Benedict Cumberbatch and Terry Crews utilize intermittent fasting(something I use daily as well), Mustafa Shakir and Madelaine Petsch are vegans, Brandon Routh and Frank Grillo opt for paleo, and tons of others utilize their own variations as well.

And, that’s just to name a few celebs from each, by the way.

You can check out our Nutrition Pillars for more information and articles on all of the above and more.

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Iko Uwais Workout Routine Research

This is the part where you find out just how active Iko Uwais really is.

It’s no surprise he shows off a shredded physique with six pack abs.

Actually, when you look at his physique and how it evolved (in the sense of getting bulkier) you can begin to realize that his training change from what I will tell you about in this interview to the pictures he’s been sharing most recently (shown above) in the weight room!

If you missed that, I’m telling you that there is a direct correlation between Uwais’ weight training and his bulking phase.

It’s similar to how we train heavy to tack on muscle with our Bulk & Strength Vol. 2 Program.

But, let’s take a look at what we’re working with.

First of all, I think it’s pretty cool to note these two things:

What was the most difficult stunt you did for The Raid 2?

Jumping from car to car, in the car chasing scene. It took 6 or 7 takes to do it and I didn’t have any stunt doubles, I did all my own stunts.

You’re the biggest star in Indonesia right now how do you feel?

Thanks very much Raj. Well, to be honest, it’s normal, nothing really changed aside from the fact that I now have a small family; a wife and daughter called  Atreya, she’s 6 months old now. My life is still the same. I find it’s weird that people want to take pictures with me, it’s unusual, but at least I know who I am now! (Laughs)

The fact that he does all his own stunts not only shows a lot about his performance levels but also the fact that he’s incredibly active.

And knowing how big of a star he is, coming from Indonesia, is just a nice bonus question I wanted to add for you. 😉

Continuing on with the same interview we have:

Do you train in gymnastics and acrobatics too?

I practice backflips and saltos, but I don’t do much of that dancing thing! (Laughs) I like silat, capoeira and gymnastics. Tai chi is, in many ways, similar to silat in that there is a lot of flexibility involved in the movements.

Which gives us a look into a lot of the stuff we’ll be incorporating already.

But he’s not done there.  He continues with:

What kind of workout do you do everyday?

When I wake up in the morning I do push ups, and so on as well as choreography style moves. Depending on my schedule, I could train silat 3-5 hours per day. I practice with Yayan, he pushes me really hard Raj! Until this day I still call him Mad Dog or Crazy Dog!

What hobbies do you have?

I like to practice fight choreography moves with Yayan, I like that.

So here we get a lot more information on just how active he really is, and a little bit more into his daily regime.

He wakes up and gets his push ups in right off the bat.  Looks like we’ll be doing the same.

BUT, his HOBBY is fight choreography.

Yeah, that’s like if my hobby of playing freakin’ League of Legends and Hearthstone burned 1,000 calories every twenty minutes…

Now, one last thing I want to reiterate is the fact that Uwais’ has been hitting the gym hard in his most recent posts and shares.

That means I’ll be giving you two different routines: one for his recent weight room bulking and one to utilize to get that activity level up with parkour, calisthenics, gymnastics and choreography options!

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Iko Uwais Workout Routine

Workout Options:

For this one you’re going to have two different options.  The training volume will be similar because Uwais’ activity level but one will be revolving around calisthenics, cardio and getting active, while the other will be a heavy weight room styled bulk!

Training Volume:

5+ days per week

Explanation:

Both routines will involve training 5 days per week.  I added a nice plus symbol in there because I’m fairly sure Uwais doesn’t stop moving.  His “off days” for training likely consist of high volume activity like choreography (even during his “bulk”) and other activities.

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Iko Uwais Workout Routine: Cutting Workout Schedule

Monday: Calisthenics, Silat/Capoeira/Tai Chi, and Activity

Tuesday: High Volume Calisthenics and Parkour (Stunt Training)

Wednesday: Calisthenics, Silat/Capoeira/Tai Chi, and Activity

Thursday: High Volume Calisthenics and Parkour (Stunt Training)

Friday: Calisthenics, Silat/Capoeira/Tai Chi, and Activity

Saturday: Optional High Volume Calisthenics and Parkour (Stunt Training)

Sunday: Active Off Day

**If at any point you can’t complete a specific section of activity I recommend you add in 30-60 minutes of cardio in various formats such as jumping rope, treadmill HIIT, rowing, and/or elliptical training.**

Iko Uwais Workout Routine: Calisthenics, Silat/Capoeira/Tai Chi, and Activity

We’re going to start with calisthenics, and Uwais mentions immediately getting down and getting push ups in when he wakes up.  So this training day won’t be that heavy in calisthenics but it will involve some movements to get you going. 

These movements can be completed throughout the day.

Calisthenics:

Push Ups:

5×25

Air Squats

5×20

Dips

5×15

Silat/Capoeira/Tai Chi:

In the PDF we’re going to be sharing links to two programs from our friends over at Onnit and Black Belt Mag for both Silat and Capoeira.

For now, though, we’ll be utilizing some Tai Chi, as Uwais mentions that it is very similar to movements in silat and I was able to grab an awesome video for you guys to take advantage of:

Activity:

To increase our activity I recommend stepping it up a notch on these MMA/Calisthenics days.  I would recommend 30-60 minutes of cardio (like I mentioned above in the scheduling) in order to really come anywhere near Uwais’ activity levels.

Here’s what I would do, but your options are endless:

• 15 minutes Treadmill HIIT
• 15 minutes Steady Fast Paced Elliptical
• 15 minutes Treadmill HIIT
• 15 minutes Steady Fast Paced Elliptical
  • For a total of 60 minutes.

I like to switch it up (plus I like to take a mental break from HIIT and read my current book obsession, but that’s just me!).

Iko Uwais Workout Routine: High Volume Calisthenics and Parkour

For this one we’re going to be stepping it up a notch on the calisthenics throughout the day and I’ll also be sharing our parkour workout from Nighrunner’s routine which I worked on with Academy member Felix.  Which is two times in one week I’ll be adding it into a program after having seen Kate Bishop’s workout as well!

Calisthenics Portion:

75 Pull Ups

75 Hanging Leg Raises

100 Dips

100 Lunges

100 Sit Ups

150 Push Ups

150 Air Squats

**These can be broken down into any number of sets/reps that are needed to complete the overall count.**

Felix’s Parkour Workout:

Warm up:

Dynamic stretching

10 minutes of cardio (chose between Option A and B)

Option A: Jogging or running

Option B: Quadrupedal movement such as bear crawl, crab walk, spider-man walk, backward and forward (try to mix them a bit this will help for your mobility)

5-10 Parkour Rolls (both sides)

How you should roll: (example on right shoulder) get down on your left knee, put your left hand on the ground in front of your left knee, beside your right heel, then put your right hand on the left one. DO NOT CROSS YOUR FINGERS. Put your head down and roll on your shoulder, you should roll diagonally from your shoulder to the other side of your waist.

Note: Start by doing them on soft surfaces like grass, when you feel more confident while doing it try to practice them from walking, jogging and running. Then start to practice dive rolls.

5-10 back rolls

Vaults:

Flow out/safety vault: as you come towards the obstacle, place your outside arm on the obstacle, then put your outside leg on the obstacle, pass your inside leg under your outside leg, release your outside arm as you push with your outside foot to pass the obstacle.

Speed vault: very similar to the flow out vault except that your outside foot does not touch the obstacle, instead just kick in the air with it.

Lazy vault: this one is more useful to get over a rail. Come towards the obstacle from a diagonal or parallel direction, put your inside hand on the obstacle, swing your inside leg then your outside leg in the same motion, before placing your outside hand on the obstacle.

Note: the flow out vault as well as the lazy vault are two movements that you can practice without momentum.

Kong vault: press with both of your hands on the obstacle, at the same time, tuck your legs on your chest to pass over the obstacle, don’t forget to raise your hips.

Note: this one is the most known and most used vault in Parkour, however it is a very scary and tricky vault, so here’s a few steps you can do to break it down.

Step 1: practice it on the floor, crouch and dive into a kong vault, this will get used to the movement, you could also practice with your quadrupedal movements as a warm up.

Step 2: plant plyos/monkey plant; put both hands on an obstacle and use your legs to get on it

Step 3: following the plant plyo keep your hand on the obstacle and go down into a squat position.

Bar/Rail moves:

Under bar: as you come towards a bar or rail, jump feet first and place your hands on the bar, swing under the bar and extend your body while arching your back.

Tips: one exercise that you can do to practice it and test yourself is to find a park with bars, like a calisthenic park, put and elastic band between two poles parallel to the pull up bar, grab the bar and jump trying to pass your whole body between the elastic band and the bar, raise the elastic band as you get better.

Wall moves:

Wall run: run towards a wall, when you’re at the right distance (not to close, not to far) make a small jump at the same time plant the ball of your feet on the wall, a bit higher than hips level, push upward with your leg that is on the wall then try to reach with your arms the top of the wall.

Tik Tak: Similar to the wall run, run towards the wall then jump putting your other leg (feet facing upward) then push with the leg that is on the wall, then push away from the wall transferring your momentum wherever direction you need to go.

Arm jump: this one is like a long jump but you use it to grab the edge of a wall, or a bar as you jump.

Note: when performing this jump your legs should land slightly before you grab the bar. as you might hurt your knees on the wall. just don’t over do it so you don’t drop kick the wall.

Tips: this works for precision jump as well as arm jump, when you’re not sure if you can execute the jump as the jump might be high for example, go down and practice it from the same distance, if you can cover the distance, that means you can do it, if you can’t maybe you should wait. of course there’s always the height difference between the two objects that is important.

Balance: to practice your balance, you can practice it pretty much anytime anywhere, for example you can stand on one leg as you wait for the bus then to the other leg, you can also walk on the road lines (just not in the middle of the road please) there’s literally a lot of things you can do to practice your balance.

Now that you know a few movements for parkour try to find  places where you can try them (bench, picnic tables, etc). This really depends on your surroundings, as you get better you will also be able to see more things you can do: this is called The Parkour Vision. For example where others might see a wall, you might see a wall run, etc..

Iko Uwais Workout Routine: Bulking Workout Schedule

Monday: Upper Body Training A

Tuesday: Lower Body Training A

Wednesday: Calisthenics, Parkour and MMA from Cutting Schedule

Thursday: Upper Body Training B

Friday: Lower Body Training B

Saturday: Calisthenics, Parkour and MMA from Cutting Schedule

Sunday: Active Off Day (MMA/Parkour optional from Cutting Schedule)

Iko Uwais Workout: Upper Body Training A

Barbell Bench Press

3×8-12 reps

Bent Over Barbell Row

3×8-12 reps

Seated Overhead DB Press

3×8-12 reps

Machine Chest Flyes

3×8-12 reps

Lateral Pulldowns

3×8-12 reps

Dumbbell One Arm Lateral Raises

3×8-12 reps each arm

Cable Tricep Overhead Extensions w/ Rope

3×8-12 reps

Cable Hammer Curls w/ Rope

3×8-12 reps

Iko Uwais Workout: Lower Body Training A

Barbell Back Squat

3×8-12 reps

Straight Leg Deadlift with DB or KB

3×8-12 reps

Standing Barbell Calf Raises

3×8-12 reps

Quad/Leg Extension Machine

3×8-12 reps

Hamstring Curls or Kickbacks

3×8-12 reps

Seated Calf Raises

3×8-12

Sit Ups

3×25 reps

Hanging Leg Raises

3×25

Iko Uwais Workout: Upper Body Training B

Incline Dumbbell Bench

3×8-12 reps

Deadlifts

3×8-12 reps

Arnold Press

3×8-12 reps

Decline Machine Press

3×8-12 reps

Cable Rows

3×8-12 reps

Machine Shoulder Press

3×8-12 reps

Dumbbell Bicep Curls

3×8-12 reps each arm

Dips

3×8-12 reps

Iko Uwais Workout: Lower Body Training B

Leg Press

3×8-12 reps

Calf Raises on Leg Press

3×8-12 reps

Straight Leg Deadlift w/ KB Light

3×8-12 reps

Bulgarian Split Squats

3×8-12 reps

Cable Pull Throughs

3×8-12 reps

Dip Machine Leg Pushdowns

3×8-12

Cable Crunches

3×25 reps

Lying Leg Raises

3×25

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